Birth of the Vessel
by NormansDarylDixon
Summary: This is book one of my Royal Flowers Series and composes mostly of Naruto and a tiny bit of Avatar: The Last Airbender. There is no hentai, if there is pairing, it's mostly romance and not hentai. UPDATE: Story is now in third person as it raises the level of maturity.
1. Prologue

_*note that the Guren in this story is NOT the Guren in the original Shippuden series*_

_He`s dead, he has to be. There is no way he could still be alive. His technique can only last for five minutes. Unless…_

"Damn it, I didn`t expect that to take up so much chakra." Guren turned around and saw Konan, panting. She no longer had the Dance of the Shikagami activated.

"Of course it would. Creating that many paper bombs alone would take half of the user's chakra. Even for me." Guren scanned the area, trying to detect any source of chakra.

"He`s dead now, you no long have to worr-"

_Drip, drip, drip…_

"I expected Konan to fall for this, but you? Your surname may not say so, but you _are _an Uchiha. You should`ve known that I would`ve used the Izanagi."

A chill crept up her back. She whipped around and saw Madara in a beaten up state. His cloak was ripped and a fourth of his mask was gone. His right eye was shut tightly and bleeding.

She teleported behind him and tried to soul-rip him, but Madara saw through this. He grabbed Guren's wrist and threw her across the lake. As she was flying through the air, she grabbed one of the beads from her pockets and threw it at Madara. She made a hand sign and she switched places with the bead, which was quickly forming into a crystal clone.

Once Madara realized what had happened, he held a weakened Konan in a headlock.

"One more move, and I snap her neck." He held her tightly.

"No you won`t. I know you won`t." Guren tried to distract him while a shadow clone materializes silently behind him.

"Wanna bet?" He grabbed the shadow clone`s hand. "Soul-ripping me won`t be so easy."

"I`m not soul-ripping you. Chidori!" She created a lightning blade with my shadow clone and had it cut right through Madara`s arm.

Konan fell to the lake. She thought that she defeated him. Even with his teleportation technique, losing an arm would be fatal. She heard a splash and turned around. That's when everything went dark. She had sealed her fate.

Guren was unconscious for a few hours. Directly on her right was the lifeless body of Konan.

"Ugh, not again…"

Behind her, the water formed into ice and someone was approaching her. It was a girl with curly black hair that reached to the middle of her back. She wore a black shirt with rips in it, black skinny jeans and lace up boots. She had gloves on with the finger holes cut open. A dragon tattoo was spiraling up her arm. She walked past Guren and towards Konan, holding her hand out, face expressionless. Guren used the Body Flicker technique and shielded Konan's body.

The girl looked up and said, "I guess the spirits were right. This world is quite powerful. You`re the girl from my dreams. We`re meant to be together."


	2. An Uchihas Demise

_"No matter what one may say, we will always love our parents. A child is not complete without a parent. They can do anything to fill up that hole. Indecencies, revenge, hatred. Surprisingly, not a lot of people actually use love."_

"Guren! Time to get up!"

The eight year old rolled over in her bed, the sunlight blinding her eyesight.

"Ugh!" She groaned and rubbed her face. Today was the twenty-third of August. Guren's first day at the Academy. Being a perfectionist, she couldn't possibly be more excited.

She rolled out of bed and walked across the room to her mirror. Her bright purple hair was wavy, as usual, down to her shoulders. She spent a few minutes combing her hair and getting dressed. She walked downstairs and saw her mom waiting for her with breakfast.

"Today`s your big day!"

Guren smiled and giggled with excitement, "I`m going to do much better than you and daddy!"

Her mother, Anari Uchiha, chuckled. "Shouldn`t be too hard, we were slackers." She winked at Guren before frowning. "Honey, your hair's a mess!" Anari walked towards Guren and started to comb her hair while Guren ate. Guren was so happy, the happiest of anyone in the family. Her mom tied her hair back in a neat ponytail, with her side bangs hanging out. "There, now your hair's just like mine." She smiled.

"Anari. You're going to make her late." Lelouch Yakanara stood in the doorway, smiling at his child. Guren ran over to him and hugged him.

"Hi, daddy." She looked up and grinned.

He lovingly smiled down at her. "Come on, let's get you to school." He motioned for Anari to follow and together, the young family walked to the Academy. They watched Guren run up and join the admission ceremony. Lelouch's face went from a smile to a blank expression. He grabbed Anari's hand with a somewhat harsh grip. "Anari. You said eight years ago that you'd tell me the full prophecy."

Anari pulled her hand away, irritated with Lelouch causing a scene at this time. "You're insufferable." Anari straightened her forehead protector. "It was about Guren. They said that she was destined to change the world, whether it be good or bad. She would do it with a distant relative."

"Hopefully she follows our side instead of yours."

She clenched her fist, furious. "Lelouch," she said through clenched teeth, "I would advise you to not mention the coup de tat, here."

"Don't overestimate yourself just because you have the ability to receive messages from the gods."

Guren saw her parents arguing, her face contorted into a worried state. She hated watching her parents fight. It happened more often than not. Was that was marriage was supposed to be like? If so, she would certainly rather stay single. A loud commotion suddenly stirred her out of her thoughts. A blonde boy was being dragged by a chunin and into the building.

"What an idiot.." A familiar voice made Guren turn around. It was her little cousin, Sasuke. Granted, she was only five months older than him, but she still loved to rub it in his face.

The two stayed after school to train. They were both overachievers. Sasuke had a long dream of surpassing his older brother, Itachi. He would always be watching Itachi practice, trying to imitate him, and somehow injuring himself in the process. The one technique that Sasuke worried about the most was the Uchiha's speciality, the Giant Fireball Technique. Guren always questioned the credibility of this technique. It's just a rolling ball of fire, she thought.

It wasn't jealousy that motivated these thoughts. Guren was an Uchiha by blood, but a Yakanara by name. The Yakanara clan specialized in chakra control. It gave them a bloodline limit that was more advanced than most. They had the ability to simultaneously control three elements at once; earth, water, and wind. The water and wind created ice and they incorporated the earth element to create a crystal. Their precise chakra control made them the only clan in the world to be able to use this technique. They were praised as the best Medical Shinobi in the world; some rumors even said that the legendary Slug Princess Tsunade was distantly related to this clan. Ever since Guren first saw her father using this technique to train, she had wanted to learn it. Lelouch showed her a basic trick, crystallizing a solid object. It was much easier than spontaneous formation, but Guren simply did not have the chakra control yet to crystallize anything.

By the time the two started heading home, it was dark. Walking through the gates leading to the Uchiha clan's village, something seemed off. Usually there was always someone outside, playing some music. Their clan was a fairly active one; children was always running around, adults sitting conversing or reading. However, there was no one. It was eerily quiet. Guren slowly approached her house and walked in. She walked around and heard nothing. Calling out for her parents, she started to get scared. Behind her, a figure slowly appeared dragging two bodies into the room. Guren noticed and ran to hide around a corner, right in the figure's blind spot.

Her eyes widened with shock as someone started talking. Their voices were familiar.

"Wh-Why would you do this? We're you`re fam-"

"I must do what I must do. I..I'm sorry."

I recognized those voices. My mother coughed as she fell to the ground. Itachi stood over them.

"Anari!" My father covered her body. "Please, you know us better than anyone. Me and Anari, we never planned to participate in the-"

"I know your plan, but this is to save your child. Lord Danzo is merciless. Again..I'm sorry. I promise I'll help her fulfill the prophecy." Itachi brought his sword down, killing Anari and Lelouch, much to Guren's horror. She let out a shaky breath and ran towards the back door, trying to escape, tears flowing down her eyes. She ran right into Itachi. Letting out a shriek, she fell to the ground. "Itachi-san, please! I don't know why you're doing this, but-" My eyes met his and I fell into complete darkness.


	3. Death of Guren Yakanara!

_"The most horrible things happen to the best people."_

"Why weren`t you home? We could`ve escaped. We didn`t because we were waiting for you."

The scene shifted to Anari and Lelouch lifeless on the floor. Itachi's voice appeared out nowhere, but it was everywhere.

"One day, you will understand. Protect Sasuke and the next time we meet, you will know."

Two years later, Guren sat up in bed, waking up from a nightmare. She was shaking, she couldn't get Itachi's genjutsu out of her head. Two years ago, Itachi Uchiha annihilated the whole entire Uchiha clan for unknown reasons. Sasuke had said that he was testing his vessel, at least that's what Itachi told him. It didn't fit with what Guren overheard, though. Guren and Sasuke now live together in a government-funded apartment.

"Sasuke! I`m gonna go out and get us some food!" Guren yelled out and waited for Sasuke's response, if there will actually be one for once. He didn't answer. She mumbled to herself, "He's such a brat.." She was the only reason those two were still alive, taking care of him, getting food. Sasuke just ran around, thinking about revenge. She grabbed a messenger bag and jumped out the window.

After a few minutes, she heard a rustle in the bush beside her. She stared at it, waiting a few minutes before continuing to walk. A minute later, she heard it again. However, this time, it didn't. Someone jumped out of the bush and ran towards her. She bolted the other way, but she fell right into their trap.

Guren hit her head on the floor and her vision was blurry for a few minutes. When her vision came back, there was an old man if front of her. He had half of his body covered in bandages, spiky hair and an x-shaped scar on his chin. His name was Danzo Shimura. He made the tiger hand sign, and Guren found herself strapped down onto a table, unable to move. She was unable to shut her eyes, something was holding them open. Danzo ripped her eyes out, ignoring her screams of agony. Guren's heart was racing, but her breathing slowed. She knew that she was going to die. She could feel the blood from her eyes dripping down her cheeks, like thick, warm tears.

"I'm sorry that I had to do this to you, but your chakra was perfect for this. You're the only one in the world with the Six Path's blood." Danzo placed his hand into a container filled with liquid and pulled out two objects. He placed them into Guren's eyesockets and motioned for Shinobi to connect them with her brain. Soon, Guren could see again, however her vision wasn't clear. It was heavily tinted with a red color. She looked around, suddenly able to move again. There was a mirror in front of her and she looked at her eyes. Aside from the blood, something else was really off. They were purple with ripples, her whole entire eye had that pattern.

Danzo stood in the darkest corner of the room, observing Guren with the utmost concentration. Once Guren laid eyes on him, her anger boiled up and a new chakra surged within her. The building blew up. Anything within fifty feet of her and now one hundred feet further from her. She floated up into the air. She did not know that Danzo granted her a new power.

"Stop her! She can't control the Rinnegan! Slay her!" An ANBU agent, Kakashi Hatake, appeared in front of her. He performed his Body Flicker technique and disappeared. Guren could not find him, she wasn't even a genin yet. The hair on the back of her neck stood up and she sensed electricity.

"Lightning blade!" He shoved a hand full of lightning into her back. She fell to the ground, blood spilling out of her mouth.

"Dispose of her. Drop her off outside of Konoha and let her die there. No one will find her body there."

Kakashi dropped Guren off on the outskirts of Konoha. He stared at her broken body and felt a twinge of guilt. He just murdered an innocent child. No one would've known that he would retire from the ANBU because of this event. He got up and left. Guren couldn't move, and she her eyes started to water. Today was the day before she would've graduated from the Academy, the first of her class. Now, she'll never see Sasuke, again.

"I don`t want to die...I won`t want to die...I don`t want to..." She kept on repeating this over and over again for what seemed like hours.

Meanwhile, about fifty meters the the south of where she was, two people were conversing about the mission they were assigned.

"You took way too long on that assignment. How many times do I have to tell you that I hate waiting?" A boy that looked around the age of fifteen sat at a table at a small diner. He had a straw hat on and wore a black cloak with red clouds.

Across the table from him was another, older looking man that was clad similarly to him. He was extremely pale, had orange slitted eyes with purple markings around them. His hair was black and long, that it reached the middle of his back. He licked his lips with his abnormally long tongue. "Sasori, you should be more patient, we have eternity ahead of us."

Sasori scoffed and took off his hat. His fire red hair ruffled as he shook his head. He got up and walked towards the exit. "Wait here, Orochimaru. I don't like to keep others waiting..I just have a feeling." He exited the diner and walked towards the direction of Konohagakure. He didn't know what he was looking for, maybe Orochimaru forgot something. He saw a heard a child whimpering, saying, "I don't want to die." He walked towards the girl, who was bleeding at an extraordinary rate. Sasori didn't know why he did what he did next. He just had a feeling, which was odd since he didn't have emotions. He looked at her and said, "Then maybe you don`t have to. You seem to intrigue me, young child." He bent down and picked her up. Guren didn't know what was happening. She looked at Sasori and for a second, his bored, cold eyes ahd a sympathetic look in them. Her eyes slowly shut and she lost consciousness.


	4. Mysteries of the Eye, Revealed!

_"This is the budding of a great romance."_

"Are you done yet?"

"No, be patient, Sasori."

"Why are you so slow? Hurry up. I hate to be kept waiting."

Guren's body was laid down on a bed, her shirt open, only showing the fishnet armor underneath. A woman with blue hair and a flower on the side of her head was healing Guren with Medical Ninjutsu.

"It`s harder than you think. She lost a lot of blood. Her chest wound is pretty deep, ignoring the fact that it`s in a vital spot. At this point, we might have to use Nagato`s technique."

"Konan, you know Leader won`t do that for her without good reason."

Guren's eyes finally opened and Konan faltered. "H-Her eyes! That's Nagato's...!"

Sasori stared at Guren for a minute before turning to Konan. "What's wrong?"

"S...Stay here...I-I`m gonna go find Nagato." Konan left the room in a hurry.

"Tch, wonder what that was about. She better not keep me waiting," he sighed. "Kid, you better not be too much trouble."

"Wh-What? Why`d you s-save me?" Guren said weakly.

"You can hear me? Guess you`re not a half dead corpse after all," he moved a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. "Just like Leader`s...Hey, kid," he wiped some blood off her face, "do you have parents?

"N-No...they...died two years ago."

"I see. Any siblings?"

"No...I`m an only child, but I do have a cousin back in K-Konoha. But..." Guren thought about what happened, why she's technically supposed to be dead. "I can never go home."

"And why is that?"

"I`m supposed to be d-"

The door slowly opened. A man with orange hair and many piercings poked his head in. He had a diagonal bar through his nose, two piercings on both of his cheeks and his chin. Guren noticed that his eyes were exactly like hers and she stared at him, obviously interested. He spoke, "Sasori? A word?"

Sasori exited with the strange man as Konan entered the room. Guren shakily sat up.

"You really shouldn`t be doing that," Konan said.

"I`m f-fine...Gah!" She coughed up some blood.

Konan rushed to her side and started healing her once again bleeding chest wound. "You`re opening your wound. Don`t make my past two hours of healing be spent in vain."

"Where am I?"

Konan just looked at Guren with her amber eyes. The door opened and Sasori and the orange haired man walked in.

"Pein, what are you going to do?" Konan walked towards the mysterious man. The man named Pein.

He walked past her and towards Guren and placed his hand on top of her head. After a few seconds, he spoke again. "Guren Yakanara..."

Guren was shocked. "How did...how did you..."

"Know your name? I sorted through all of your memories when I placed my hand on your head," he pointed to his eye. "That`s one of the mysterious powers of the Rinnegan. That`s what you have..."

"The...Rinnegan?" _So that`s what this eye was called..._

"Yes. And it might take a few years, but I`ll teach you how to use it."

"Nagato!" Konan yelled out.

"Does that mean she could stay?" Sasori asked.

"Yes, she has no family anywhere else, she`s the little cousin of Itachi," Pein explained.

"Itachi-san-," I faltered, remembering the death of my parents. "I mean...Itachi`s here?"

"Nagato, we can`t keep a child, here. It`s too dangerous!" Konan turned Nagato around and yelled at him.

"Konan, she has no parents. Just like us. Like me, she witnessed the death of her parents, along with possessing the Sage of the Six Path`s eye."

"What if she gets captured? I will not have a repeat of what happened to Yahiko."

"I`ll watch over her and personally take responsibility should that ever happen," Sasori butted in. "After all, I`m the one who brought her in."

"You have a point, Sasori. Come, Konan, let`s leave them be. I`m sure Guren has many questions."

Konan turned towards Guren. "It`s nothing personal, kid." She left the room with Nagato shortly after.


	5. Akasuna No Sasori

_"You lose the main one, so you go after the smaller. If you can`t even get the smaller one, you get the hatchling."_

The young kunoichi had been living with Sasori for two months, and she enjoyed every minute of it. She was introduced to a group of rogue Shinobi called the Akatsuki. Naturally, as a child, she'd be afraid to walk around alone, Sasori usually shadows her, watching from the corners, making sure she doesn't get attacked. The others were very interested in her. She had the potential of harnessing great power, yet she was too young to know how to use it. She was the perfect vessel. She especially caught the eye of a Konohagakure shinobi named Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin.

Sasori specialized in the Puppet Master Technique and sought to teach Guren how to at least gain the ability to manipulate a weakened opponent without using a massive amount of chakra. Guren jumped into the lessons with confidence, but quickly realized that it was going to be harder than she thought. She couldn't control the puppet's movements. Sasori said that having difficulty at this part was normal, but that didn't set Guren to rest. She was used to being an overacheiver, a prodigy. She _hated _the fact that a technique existed where she couldn't even master the basics. She would constantly leave, frustrated.

All of the Akatsuki members were placed in separate rooms throughout a hallway depending on different partnerships. Everyone was paired up with one other member and placed in the same room for resting. The hallway led to the main quarters which has food and all the necessary materials they need to survive on their own.

One night, Guren was laying down in bed, alone, pondering what to do about the situation she was in. She looked around and saw that the room was still empty. Sitting up, she turned on the desk lamp next to her. The bed across the room from her was Orochimaru's, it looked like it hadn't been touched. She slept in Sasori's bed, since he never slept. Sasori would stay up all night working on his human puppets in the laboratory at the end of the hallway on the opposite side of our quarters. Orochimaru did sleep, but he's been doing less of it every day. He always hung out with Itachi, Guren avoided him. She uncovered herself and walked to the door, poking her head out. After a few minutes, she was sure that no one was coming. She walked out and quietly ran to the laboratory. Right before she reached the laboratory, she heard footsteps approaching her from inside the lab. She jumped up to the ceiling, concentrated her chakra to her hands and feet, and hung upside down. Right after she got settled, Sasori walked out and she had to hold her breath to avoid making a noise. She listened to his footsteps slowly fade, a door opening, and closing again. She waited a minute or two and jumped down from the ceiling. She walked into the lab thinking no one had seen her, unaware that a predator was right behind her.

Guren stayed up all night, working the Puppet Master Jutsu. She used little dolls to practice. Throughout the night, she would occasionally get very upset and rip one of the dolls into little pieces. After a few hours, she finally got the doll to be able to move as if it was alive, making very complicated movements. Filled with excitement, she looked out the window and noticed that the sky started to turn blue. "Crap," she muttered this to herself as she built up chakra to perform a Jutsu. She had finally mastered the Crystal Release, however, her stamina was still relatively low and she could only perform one Crystal Release technique before having to rebuild her chakra to use it again. She placed her palm on the floor, "Crystal Release: Crystal Pentagonal Prison! (Shoton: Kessho Gokakuro)" The dolls crystallized and disintegrated with the crystal. Guren ran out of the lab, looking backwards to make sure the lights were off. She bumped into something and fell into the ground. She looked up, her bangs covering her eyes, and saw the smirking grin of Sasori's partner, Orochimaru. She looked away, afraid of him, "O-Orochimaru-san..."

Orochimaru chuckled. "Why are you out of your cage, mouse?"

_What a weird, creepy phrase. _"I was practicing the Puppet Master Technique..." She mumbled.

"All night? I don`t think Sasori would approve."

"Please don`t tell Sasori-san!"

"Oh, don`t worry. I won`t." A smirk appeared on his face and a slight hissing noise emerged from under his robe. _A snake?_

"Since you`re only ten, I`ll give you a chance to run. One...Two...Three..."

Guren thought of how she ran when Danzo abducted her; she got up and ran the other way. Once she passed the door to the laboratory, she stopped and mustered up chakra. She made the tiger, hare, boar, and dog hand signs. "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall! (Doton: Doryuheki)" As the name suggests, a giant wall made up of rock blocked the door. She hoped that it would at least stall Orochimaru, however she was highly underestimating him. She ran and hid in the darkest room; scared out of her mind. She placed her hand over her mouth and waited for him to break in, however she didn't hear a thing. Minutes passed, and she felt something slithering around her feet and up her legs.

"You know, you could`ve ran past me and to Sasori. I`m sure he would`ve defended you. You just had to trap yourself, didn`t you? Well, that`s too bad. Your body`s mine."

"My body? What are you talking about...?" A white snake was wrapping itself around Guren's body at an incredible rate. Orochimaru used the Body Flicker (Shunshin no Jutsu) and appeared in front of Guren, licking his lips. Guren grimaced, having always found that habit of Orochimaru's to be quite creepy. Orochimaru's neck shot out and he bit Guren on the neck, who suddenly felt an over-whelming heat spreading through her body. She collapsed to the ground, barely able to move. The snake continued to wrap itself around her until its head reacher her neck. It formed itself in a way so Guren couldn't move and her arms were spread.

"Now that you have absolutely no way of defending yourself, perhaps I`ll explain. I, like dear old Sasori, envision immortality. In order to do that," he chuckled, "I have to replace my old, decaying body with a youthful one. Over the decades, it became less about the youth of the body and more about the hidden techniques each body possessed. Normally, I would not choose a mere child to use, but considering that I failed to take Itachi`s body..." He took a heavy sigh. "Oh well. I`ll take you now while you don`t know how to use your powers. That eye of yours is worth replacing Itachi with." He looked at Guren and took a step towards her. The snake lifted her off the ground so that she was facing Orochimaru. "Your body is mi-"

Guren's body suddenly exerted blue chakra in massive amounts. She felt the cold chakra, much like a cold drink in the middle of a hot day.

"What is this?" Orochimaru mumbled to himself.

"It`s a chakra-enhancing stimulant I gave her to shield her from your weird little acts."

Hidden in the shadows of the corner Guren was hiding in was Sasori, glaring at Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru, you have ten seconds to explain yourself." Sasori unbuttoned the top button of his cloak.

"Sasori," Orochimaru turned around, "you should very well know the importance of immortality."

"Immortality?" He scoffed. "I do not care to be immortal, I just want the satisfaction of having true art. That is not 'immortality'."

"What you do is basically the same as me! Do you not kill people for your own self gain?"

"You mean my human puppets? Why of course I do, but you killing someone isn`t why I`m here. It`s _who _you`re killing that bothers me."

Orochimaru glanced at Guren. "Oh, you mean her? What, is she your little brat now?"

Sasori clenched his teeth and snarled. "I highly suggest that you watch your mouth, Orochimaru or I`ll happily add you to my collection."

"Back off, Sasori. Her body`s already mine."

Snarling at first Sasori ripped off his cloak. However, his body was far from normal. He had a coil of metal rope wrapped in where his abdomen should be and in his right chest was a container that said scorpion on it. Guren stared at him in shock.

Orochimaru jumped behind Guren and used her body as a shield. Sasori thrust forward and the rope flung towards Guren and Orochimaru. There was a sharp looking stinger at the end that was hurling towards them. Guren shut her eyes, afraid of what was going to happen. The stinger made contact with the snake, which tightened to the point where Guren couldn't breathe. Then, the stinger completely cut through and the snake released Guren, and fell to the ground, dead.

"Guren, get out of here." Sasori looked at the ten year old, who was frozen in fear staring at his body.

"Guren!" The urgency in his voice snapped Guren back to reality and forced her to look at Sasori's face, which calmed her down. She saw the Sasori who always protected her, who saved her and gave her another chance at life. She shakily nodded and ran out of the lab. Behind her, a battle ensued, between two partners who were once best friends, setting off an eternal rivalry.


	6. The Truth of Itachi!

"_A Shinobi`s duty is to hide behind a mask. It is their job to complete the mission from the shadows."_

"No, get away from me!"

"Guren, I need you to listen to me!"

Guren ran as quickly as she could to the other side of the room, knocking over a table in the process. "What _are _you?"

Sasori walked towards her and she stepped back, bumping into the wall. "Don`t be scared, Guren. I`ll explain." He put on his cloak so he didn`t look quite as frightening anymore.

"Why do you look like that?" Guren asked shakily, trying to calm herself down.

"Relax, I`m not going to ever hurt you. I just need you to give me your undivided attention, all right?"

Guren nodded slowly, attempting to calm down.

"I`m the same person I was before. You know those Human Puppets I make?"

"You...turned yourself into a Human Puppet..." Guren knew that Sasori used corpses to make puppets since it saves him a lot of time and the puppet can wield the techniques it had in its previous life. But it was difficult for her to accept that he turned himself into one."But if you`re a puppet...How are you alive?"

Sasori turned around and shut the door. He undid the top two buttons of his cloak and pointed to the container that had said "scorpion" on it. "This contains chakra and it`s also a part that`s living. As long as no one touches this.."

Guren placed her hand against it softly, taking everything in. She felt a faint heart beat. "Orochimaru...did you kill him?"

"No, it takes _much _more than that to kill him."

"Oh." Dark images ran through Guren's mind at the thought that she would still have to deal with Orochimaru. "So, I`ll still have to see him...?"

"No, you won`t see him anymore, don`t worry. I told him to get lost or I`m bringing Leader into this."

Guren let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, he was such a creep..."

The door slowly opened and Sasori disappeared. Itachi poked his head in.

Hatred filled up Guren. "What do _you _want?" Her voice had a hint of bitter distaste.

"I understand your hatred, Guren, but I would wish to speak to you."

"I don`t want to be even _near _the likes of you."

Itachi ignored her and walked into the room. "Guren, do you remember my genjutsu that I put you in two years ago on that night?"

"Yeah, the night you _killed _my parents."

Itachi sighed. "Do you remember the last thing I said in that genjutsu?"

"Yeah, 'One day, you will understand. Protect Sasuke and the next time we meet, you will know.' I could never figure out what the hell that meant..."

"Taking care of Sasuke seems to have matured you."

"Yeah, well he`s a stubborn one. You should know, he was your little brother." The memories of her childhood before everyone died warmed Guren, putting a smile on her face. However, after the dark memories of her parents blood splattering the ground arrived, Guren's smile disappeared and her face darkened again. "Why`d you spare me anyway?"

"I believe you`ve already met Danzo Shimura."

The sound of Danzo`s name filled Guren with anger which ended up activating her Rinnegan. Soon the whole room was filled with massive chakra. Guren's hair was semi-standing due to her anger. "I`m...going...to kill him. I guarantee it. I _will _not rest until he is dead," she snarled.

"Calm down." Itachi looked her in the eye.

"Why should I? He took everything from me! My life..."

"Did he really? He gave those eyes after all..."

Guren looked over at the window and saw her reflection. A chill crept up her as she saw her eyes. _My eyes look like that again... _She saw the pattern of the Rinnegan, purple with ripples. "I don`t know how to feel about these. These eyes...they`re not mine."

"Fine. Look at it this way, then. If Danzo didn`t assault you, you wouldn`t be here with Sasori-san."

Guren didn't say anything, knowing that Itachi had brought up a good point. "Whatever. What is it about Danzo that you want to tell me?"

"You are not to tell anyone of this, _especially _not Sasuke," Itachi said. "The assassination of the Uchiha clan was my idea, but from the encouragement of Konoha."

Guren's eyes grew wide in shock and she whipped herself around. "_What?!" _

"The Uchiha`s were planning something big; A plot to destroy Konohagakure. Your mother was involved."

"No way. You`re lying."

"Am I? Why do you think your parents fought all the time? Your father didn`t approve."

This brought up one of Guren's less pleasurable memories of her childhood and her parents. It was three years ago, the first time she ever witnessed her parents fighting.

_"Clone Technique!" Guren formed a perfect clone._

_ "Good job, Guren! I`m so proud of you!" Anari patted Guren on the back._

_A knock was heard from the door. Lelouch walked in, an unhappy look on his face. "Anari, we need to talk."_

_ Anari pursed her lips, a habit she's always expressed right before she got mad. She exited the room. Guren silently followed behind her and peeped around the corner listening carefully._

_ "Shisui told me what you guys are up to," Lelouch had a stern look on his face._

_ "What are you talking about?" Anari asked. _

_ "Here`s a hint: Madara Uchiha."_

_Anari pursed her lips so much that her lips were just a thin, straight line. "Stay out of this, Lelouch."_

_ "My great grandfather built Konohagakure!"_

_ "And yours was always defacing mine!"_

_ "That`s because all yours cared about was death and destruction."_

_ "Why are we even fighting about this? We`ve had plenty. And it`s not like it matters, anyway. You and I both know that neither of us are going to change our minds. We`re just strangers to each other. The only reason we`re together is so that there`ll be a child with both the Senju and the Uchiha Clan`s blood; Like the S-"_

_ Anari saw Guren and gasped. "Guren! What are you doing?" She picked Guren up and took her to the other room._

_ "Mommy, why do you want to destroy Konohagakure? They`ve never done anything to you," Guren asked, a sad look on her face._

_ She looked around and whispered, "You`ll understand someday. You`ll be the greatest leader of them all."_

Guren snapped herself back to reality and stared at Itachi. "She had said that I would understand why she sought out the destruction of Konoha."

Itachi chuckled. "Of course she would. Now do you believe me?"

Guren attempted to ignore the smugness in his voice, but a blood vessel popped out of her head. "Just keep talking."

"The Uchiha`s had me as a spy inside of Konoha, since I was in the ANBU Black Ops. However, they had no idea the ANBU also had me as a spy against the Uchiha.

"Konoha didn`t know what to do with our clan. The Third Hokage wanted to peacefully settle things, while Danzo said that we should just eliminate the Uchiha`s out of the picture.

"After the meeting, Danzo talked with me. He said the the Uchiha`s would inevitably die. But I had a choice of how they would die. I could deflect from ANBU and join my family in the revolution, or I could get rid of the Uchiha myself. He said that if I chose the former, you and Sasuke would know the horrible truth and perish."

Guren stood there in shock. "So…you saved our lives…" She held herself and she felt herself beginning to shake.

"Frankly, I'm quite surprised that you believe me…"

She held herself tighter, "Y-Your chakra…feels w-warm. I-I…" Her voice broke and tears flew down her face. Guren ran towards Itachi and hugged him, finally forgiving him after hearing the truth. "Itachi-san, I…I can`t believe you`d do that for us, but-" Guren took a step back. "You know Sasuke wants to kill you, right?"

"Yeah, I figured as much."

"I`ll stop him! I-I won`t let you die…You deserve better…"

"No…let him come. I told him to come after me."

"So you`re just gonna let him kill you?"

"His hatred for me will make him strong, and my death will extinguish his hatred."

"No…" Guren shook her head. "I won`t let you. I`ll keep Sasuke away from you. I-I`ll tell him the truth-"

Itachi clamped his hand over Guren's mouth. "Promise me that Sasuke won`t know. I don`t care what else you do."

"But-", Itachi's hand muffled the sound of Guren's voice.

"Oh, so you agree?" Itachi said, ignoring Guren's protests. "Good, so we have an understanding." He flashed a smile down at Guren and deep inside, she knew that there was going to be no changing his mind.


	7. Encounter With the Immortal Man

For one whole year, absolutely nothing eventful happened. Ever since word got around about what happened with Orochimaru, people usually left Guren alone. Soon, a new member joined the Akatsuki by the name of Hidan.

Guren tried to avoid him, staying hidden, believing that he was unstable. Hidan was not the brightest man, constantly yelling at his partner, Kakuzu, for idiotic things. He didn't even know that Guren existed, which made Guren perfectly happy.

Guren had a schedule for training every day. She had to help Sasori with the human puppets. Watching the gutting of dead bodies hardened Guren. Before long, she no longer contained any hint of innocence. It hardened her and perfected her to be the perfect Akatsuki member. Guren trained with Itachi for general techniques and Konan for Medical Ninjutsu, both of which she mastered immediately. Guren trained on her own for the Release. At this point, she had already mastered her Crystal Armor Technique, a technique that she created on her own. However, at her current skill level, it took up most of her chakra and didn't allow her to use any other crystal techniques unless she released the armor. She never really saw a need to attack anyone, so she simply kept her Crystal Armor activated, which exercised her stamina. It took a few months, but soon, Nagato agreed to train her with the Rinnegan. Guren would constantly bother him about on when they would officially start the training. Eventually, Nagato lost his patience and had Guren run errands in the woods behind the Akatsuki base.

_Fifty meters, ugh, this is so stupid. _Guren tripped over a branch and fell over, face planting into the ground. She groaned as she got up and mumbled, "This is so stupid." As she got up and started walking again, she ran right into the newest member of the Akatsuki, Hidan.

He yelled out and cursed. "Who the fuck are you?!"

Guren looked up at him. He had medium length silver hair slicked back and purple eyes. His Akatsuki cloak was open with no shirt underneath. He had his forehead protector around his neck, stating that he was from Yugakure. Underneath that was a necklace. Connected to it was a triangle inside a circle. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't know you were here…Hidan…"

He raised his hand and slapped Guren across the face. "How the hell do you know my name?!"

"I'm in the Akatsuki…"

"My ass, you're probably some spy…" He pulled out his three-bladed scythe.

Guren jumped back a few feet, anticipating a battle.

"Oh? Not bad for a brat. What are you, five?" He threw the scythe at Guren.

She shifted to the side and dodged. "I'm eleven…" Hidan pulled his arm back on the cord connected to the scythe to try to catch her off guard. She turned around and blocked it right as it came into contact with her arm, the blade seemingly digging into her forearm.

"You're mine, now, bitch!" He pulled his scythe further back, attempting to have it cut straight through her arm. She set her foot against the handle of the weapon and pushed against it to detach herself from the blade. She jumped into a nearby tree. Hidan laughed maniacally. "It doesn't matter now! The curse ca-WHAT?!"

There was no blood on the blade. He screamed out in fury, asking where the blood was. Guren smirked and put her hand over where the blade struck her arm. Her Crystal Armor Technique surrounded every inch of her body with super strong, self-regenerating crystals. When the blade penetrated the armor, the crystal kept it lodged in place and started to form around it. If Guren didn't remove herself from it, then the tip of the blade would've disintegrated. She felt around where the chink in the armor was supposed to be and it was completely smooth, it had completely reformed within just a few seconds. _Awesome…First technique I create and it's this effective…_

Hidan contemplated for a while, obviously confused on why there was no blood. "What the hell are you…You little brat?" He threw the scythe at Guren, which she swiftly dodged. He pulled the cord again. _Like I'd fall for the same trick twice! _She jumped out of the tree and out into the open, avoiding the weapon. However before she completed the jump, Hidan flew out towards her. He was hanging on to the cord. _That bastard! He had thrown the scythe not to attack me, but to anchor it against a tree! When he pulled on the cord, I had thought that it was to pull the same trick again, but it was actually to pull himself forward. Guess he's not as stupid as he looks…_Hidan grabbed Guren by the throat and slammed her into the ground.

"Gah!" Guren yelled out and as she hit the ground, blood flew out her mouth. Hidan tightened his grip around her neck, "I've got you now, brat." He used his thumb to wipe some blood off her face and then licked the blood off his own hands. Guren concentrated chakra into his right foot and used the chakra enhanced strength to kick Hidan in the gut. He flew into a tree and it fell over from the impact. He sat there for a while, chuckling. "You little bitch…THAT REALLY FUCKING HURT YOU COCK SUCKING ATHETIST!" He stood up and walked towards Guren. He took out a long metal rod and stabbed himself in the hand. "Now…", he let the blood drip onto the ground, "feel the wrath…", he used his foot to draw the symbol on his necklace onto the ground, "OF LORD JASHIN!" He started to laugh maniacally and his skin changed to where it resembled a skeleton.

_He's insane…_Guren ran towards him and pulled out three shuriken. After pouring chakra into her arms, she threw them at him. All of them lodged deeply into his arm, his neck, and his leg. _He didn't even bother with dodging…why…?_ Before she could realize that something was wrong, she fell to her knees, holding her neck and coughing up blood. _How? Did he throw something? But he didn't even move! _Blood oozed through her fingers and she felt a stinging pain on her arm. Guren gasped as something caught her eye. _The shuriken in his arm…_She used medical ninjutsu to stop the bleeding from her neck and shakily stood up.

"Hurts, doesn't it? You shouldn't try so hard to impose pain upon others…" He took his black rod and raised his arm. Dropping his arm back down, he stabbed himself in the stomach.

An excruciating pain filled Guren's abdominal area and she fell to the floor. She looked down to only see her shirt stained with blood. _What the hell is going on? _Guren shakily tried to get back up. Noticing this, Hidan stabbed himself in the arm, the injury transferring itself to Guren and causing her to fall back to the ground.

"Wh-What are you?" _He's like a living voodoo doll._

Hidan smirked and grabbed the blade that was still impaled in his arm. "Some call me a reaper, but in reality," he dug the blade deeper into his arm, "I'm just a very religious guy." As Hidan pulled the blade down his forearm, Guren tensed and held her own arm in pain. She took a sneak peek at her arm and gasped at the horrendous amount of blood that was dripping out of the wound. She attempted to heal her arm frantically, but the wound just kept on opening.

Hidan moaned in ecstasy. "It feels good, doesn't it?! Let's enjoy this exquisite pain together! Die…" Hidan impaled himself in the chest, a smirk appearing on his face. Guren gasped, blood flying out of her mouth, holding her chest.

"Hidan." A familiar voice was heard from the shadows.

Hidan turned around and faced Tendo. "Leader…"

"What do you think you're doing?" Tendo's face was blank, that was one of Nagato's many great abilities. The unwavering ability to keep a straight face even during the most pressing situations.

"Killing a spy, and also satisfying Lord Jashin."

Tendo's face turned into something similar to a scowl. "You should know that I'm not too fond of fighting within the members of the Akatsuki."

"…members of the Akat-Wait, you mean that that two year-old brat is part of the Akatsuki?!"

"Yes, and she's an important member. She's the final step. I would focus highly on _not _murdering her." Pein walked over to Guren, who was barely conscious and laying on the floor, straining just to breathe. He place his hand on her back. "Outer Path: activate."

Guren and Pein were the only ones that saw what happened next. Surrounding Guren was a mystical purple energy that took form of the head of a demon. It's jaw moved up and down, almost as if it was chewing something. A new chakra filled Guren's body, reviving her. She gained full consciousness and shakily stood up as the purple energy disappeared.

"How the hell are you alive?" Hidan whined in protest.

Guren looked around, confused. "…I…I don't know…"

"It's another power offered by the Rinnegan. The ability to exist outside the realm of life and death." Pein explained, much to the anger of Hidan.

"Exist outside of life and death, my ass! Lord Jashin will curse you all!" Hidan yelled.

"Don't set two gods against each other, because then there will be no outcome."

"…the hell? Do you really think you're a god? Lord Jashin will smite the likes of you!"

Pein scoffed and turned away, motioning for Guren to follow. "You're already starting to test my patience, Hidan. I wouldn't keep it up if I were you."

Guren followed Pein closely, afraid of Hidan behind her. She looked back at him, and for a split second, a feeling of serenity washed over her.


End file.
